Dittmeyer murder case sentencing today

OSSIPEE - The third and final person convicted in the 2011 kidnapping and murder of 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer will be sentenced in Carroll County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon, according to the N.H. Attorney General's Office.

Michael Petelis, 29, of Ossipee, is expected to enter a plea and be sentenced at 1 p.m. Petelis was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit robbery.

He was one of the three men arrested and charged with the kidnapping and murder of Dittmeyer on April 23, 2011. Anthony Papile, 29, of Ossipee, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and is serving a 50-year jail term. Trevor Ferguson is serving a six-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2012 to two felony charges, conspiracy to commit robbery and hindering apprehension or prosecution.

The case began when Dittmeyer was found missing near a snowmaking pond in North Conway. Conway police found her 14-month-old daughter, Aliyah, safe and sleeping in the back of the car, but Dittmeyer was missing. Several days later, Dittmeyer's body was found in the pond. She had been struck in the back of the head, bound, gagged and dumped in the water, prosecutors said.

According to Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young, the murder was the result of a drug deal gone wrong.

According to Young, Petelis was a friend of the father of Dittmeyer's daughter. That man was serving a jail sentence in Maine.

"He had a relationship with the victim," said Young. "He was her protector and he set up her final demise."

Young said Petelis conspired with Papile and Ferguson.

The Attorney General's Office did not release details of the plea agreement.